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Saturday, 23 October 2010

It's been one of those weeks. You know, the ones where you run around a lot but don't seem to accomplish much! Yup, I'm exhausted but when I take a look around to see what I've done it doesn't look like much of anything. Maybe I'll catch up this weekend. Yeah, right!

On the stitching front however, I do have a finish to share with you. Ta da! It's Halloween Cove!

I knew there wasn't much left to this one but because it mostly involved stitching in the spider webs and the fence I left it until I could sit uninterrupted and give it my full attention. Otherwise I knew the frogs would be stopping by. I also had to give a bit more attention to the ship in this one. When I started stitching the rigging things just weren't adding up and it was because I had stitched in an extra row on the back end of the ship. So some frogging was involved and then I had to restitch the rigging which of course I just loved doing (not)! I'm so pleased with how this one looks and although I can't possibly have it framed in time for this Halloween, I know it will grace may walls for sure next year.

As far as the pumpkin challenge is concerned, I'm almost done with the stitching on another small which I'm hoping to finish as a cube. Halloween Sampler has been an easy and quick stitch which was a lot of fun to do. After it's finished I think I will concentrate on getting some more of my LHN Christmas ornaments stitched.

I have one other new start to share. It's designed by My Big Toe Designs and is called Cast All Your Cares . This one is being done for a friend who I sing with in the church choir. She has always admired my stitching and asked if I could do a piece for her for her new home. We originally picked another design but I wasn't really happy with it and thought this would make a nicer gift. I'll use it as a housewarming gift which will be a surprise to her since she is expecting to pay me for it. I just don't feel right about taking anything from her. She is a good friend and I'd rather do this for her as a gift. I'm stitching it on the recommended Jobelan lambswool and WDW floss. Not much to show yet as you can see.

I've had three unexpected surprises this week. The first was from one of my coworkers, Karen. She also enjoys cross stitching as well as her niece. However it appears that her niece is giving it up and was looking to find a good home for some of her supplies. Karen asked if I was interested in taking the following patterns and floss. There is a lovely Thistle kit, an M Designs piece and 2 samplers from Butternut Road - Summer Sampler and The Rose Sampler. As well there was an assortment of floss including some Caron threads and WDW. I was thrilled and gladly accepted them.

The second surprise was from my friend Trish. Trish and her husband own a local store and she does all the buying for the craft department. It seems she placed an order and when it showed up there was a Jim Shore piece which she didn't remember ordering and which she didn't think would sell well in their store. She asked if I wanted to purchase it from her at a reduced rate because she knew I was a big fan of both Halloween and Jim Shore. Did I? Looky, looky and feast your eyes on Jim Shore's Frightful Halloween Tree. It comes complete with all the ornaments shown. I love it!! I have to apologize for the quality of some of the pics. They're a little grainy. It seems my camera battery is getting low. The little pieces in the foreground did not come with it but did come from her store. Thanks very much Trish for thinking of me!

As for the third suprise, I was the winner of a Halloween draw by Carol. Follow the link to her blog at Stitching Dreams and you can get a peek at my winnings. I was thrilled!! It was a very generous giveaway and I can't wait until my gift arrives. The fabrics she chose look so yummy!

We had our first snowfall here last night. I looked out the window just before bedtime and it was coming down pretty good. Wasn't long before the rooftops were white. Fortunately the ground isn't frozen yet and the temperature was warm enough this morning that when I woke it had all disappeared. I took our boat over to the fairgrounds this morning for storage which is another sure sign that winter is almost here. I can't believe how quickly autumn is leaving us!

Many thanks to all of you who drop by my blog for a visit. I love reading your comments. Thanks!

Friday, 15 October 2010

It's a miserable start to the weekend here. Rain, wind, more rain, more wind! Sounds like a gale is out there. Perfect for cozying up with a cup of tea and a new stitch. And here it is, Helga Mandl's Halloween Sampler. As you can see, I haven't got very far yet. I'm in love with the fabric and wish I had more. It's a Limited Edition Silkweaver which I think I purchased on ebay several years ago. The colours in it are just perfect for an autumn or Halloween piece. And this one fits the bill!

I've really been enjoying stitching all these smalls lately. They give you more of a sense of accomplishment when you can see a finish so quickly. I have two other finishes, one which is finished as a pinkeep and the other will be finished into an ornament hopefully by the end of this weekend. First up is the pinkeep. It's another Helga Mandl piece called Autumn. I actually saw the backing fabric first in my stash and knew that I had a little stitch somewhere that would work with it. Little did I know that I'd find such a perfect match. Isn't it sweet? I'm getting better at these finishes with each one that I try.

Next up is the Boo Tree freebie by Rose Krizan. I've found a pretty cool fabric for the backing on this one too but you'll have to wait until my next post to see it. It's not quite finished yet. Here is a pic of the stitched piece. If you tilt your head to the left you should be able to see the little Boo which makes up the branches of the tree. It took me all of three days to finish it up which is a record for me!

It won't be long before Halloween is here either. I can't believe that the beautiful fall colours are already on their way out and that winter is almost upon us once more. Is it just me or does it seem like time is speeding up? I'm dreading the winter commute once more and according to the weather network snow flurries are forecast here for next Friday! But the weather's going to change, right?Speaking of the fall colours, here's a shot that my DH stopped to take on his way in to work this past week. I never get tired of seeing those reds and oranges. Where I grew up in southern Ontario, you just didn't see those vivid reds. Mostly I remember a lot of yellow and browns. Living here is so much more colourful.

I've been invited to Rebecca's this weekend for our October SAL. I've been having sleep issues lately and knew that I couldn't do the whole weekend but I was really hoping to get there for at least one day. However Rebecca's is a little over 2 hrs from my place and I'm so wiped out after this week that I just don't think I can manage the drive. I know I could make it there no problem. It's the getting back that worries me! I commute so much each week that anymore I just don't feel like doing it again on my days off. I'm playing it by ear and going to see how I feel when I wake in the morning. If not I wish all my stitching buddies happy stitching! I'll catch up with you later. The kettle is whistling now so I'm off to make my tea and head down to my stitching chair for some quality time with Halloween Cove. Have a great weekend!

Monday, 11 October 2010

I just wanted to take the time to wish all of my fellow Canadian bloggers a very Happy Thanksgiving. As we take the time to give thanks for our many blessings may we be always mindful of the needs of the less fortunate.

It's a beautiful autumn day here and I plan on taking in some stitching time as well as the turkey. I'll have some finishes to show off in the next post.

As we prepare to sit down and partake of our holiday meal I thought I'd post this little ditty that I received in the mail from a dear friend this past week. I've seen it on other bloggers sites as well but thought that it was cute and I'd post it here too.

Saturday, 2 October 2010

I picked up Halloween Cove again this past week and spent some serious time with it for a change. I'd neglected this one recently and getting back to it was so much fun! I really love stitching on this one and will miss it when I'm done which BTW should be very soon. I have one pumpkin left to stitch and after that what's left is one more spider web, the longstitching on the one spider and the fence in front of the one house. Not much at all! I also have a small repair on the ship. Somehow I managed to stitch an extra row on the hull. I discovered it when I went to do the long stitching on the sails and things didn't quite match up as I expected them to. How did I manage that? Who knows! That's what happens when you stitch when you're tired or when I'm too busy talking which is what often happens on Tuesday night stitching.

Speaking of which, we resumed our weekly SAL this past week at our new location. We're now stitching in a church hall not far from our previous spot. Having a larger area to meet in has resulted in allowing more people to join in the fun. We were running out of room at the bookstore and had to cut off any new people who wanted to join. Now we have lots of room in which to set up additional tables and chairs. After all, they can serve church suppers in the hall, right? So of course they can handle us! As a result we had I think it was 6 new additions including one brave male! Welcome to all the newbies and we hope we haven't scared you off and you continue to join us. The noise level for awhile was enough to scare anyone off, lol!

I started another small piece for the Great Pumpkin Challenge. This one is a Helga Mandl piece called Autumn which features a scarecrow with sunflowers and pumpkins. I'm hoping this will be a quick stitch. I'm on a roll now and I have so many fall pieces I'd like to get started on. Here's some pictures of the next pieces for consideration. I don't want anything that takes too long at this point because Christmas stitching is right around the corner. So that pretty well leaves out the PS When Witches Come Riding. I do love this one though!

It's been a pretty soggy week around here. Any of you living on the eastern seaboard will understand that. We caught the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole on Thursday and ended up with some pretty serious rainfall. Although we didn't have the severe flooding that the eastern US did, many of my friends and coworkers ended up with flooded basements. Either the sump pump couldn't handle the volumes of water or a loss of power in some areas rendered them useless. We were so fortunate to have been spared. You'd never know what was coming after the beautiful sunset we had the night before. What's the saying....Red sky at night, sailors delight? Take a look!

Now I'm off to pack an overnight bag. I'm spending the night in a luxury hotel. No, I'm kidding! I'm spending the night at the sleep clinic in one of the Ottawa hospitals. Isn't that exciting....not!

Seems I might have sleep apnea. That would explain why I'm tired all the time. But what are the chances I'm going to sleep well tonight, all wired up?! Wish me luck!